


Some Summer Night

by Hedgehound (Nosow), Nosow



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arcades, Beaches, Coming of Age, Developing Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Slow Burn, Summer Love, Underage Drinking, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:01:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26737054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nosow/pseuds/Hedgehound, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nosow/pseuds/Nosow
Summary: Shikamaru and Ino have always been best friends. Born just a day apart in a beachy tourist town that only comes alive in the summer, they’re determined to have the best season and subsequent senior year before they’re off to college. But Shikamaru can’t help the feelings that he secretly harbors for Ino, and he’s finding it harder and harder to keep it from her. A whirlwind summer, two friends dancing on the edge of something greater, and pure shenanigans unfold. Will Shikamaru be able to keep his feelings to himself until college, where he hopes distance will kill the feelings that he thinks will never be requited?Modern high-school AU that begins at the end of their junior year, and progresses throughout their senior year, most likely even a bit of college. Teenagers, romance, booze, bonfires, boardwalks! Read the notes on the first chapter for more info on the timeline of this fic, I’m so bad at descriptions!
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 37
Kudos: 51





	1. Shikamaru

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi!
> 
> My name is Hedgehound and I know I'm late to this ShikaIno train, but choo choo, here we are! I can't promise updates will be regular but they will be as frequent as my schedule allows! 
> 
> Some things to get started: Shika and Ino start out 16, bordering on 17. This is a ShikaIno fic, but it will follow them for some time, and it’s a slow burn. There will be various other pairings though they are not the main focus of this fic and will only be mentioned through Shikamaru & Ino’s POV. There may be other Shika and Ino pairings, but trust me, it’s just because they’re young and in high school - this has an eventual happy ending for Shika/Ino, and I won’t make you guys wait until the very end of the fic for it, but it won’t happen immediately. There will be lots of fluff and some drama of course. As for the age, there will be some situations where underage mature things happen; all of the characters involved will be above the age of consent, the acts will be between them and others of their age group, and they will not be graphically described in great detail. Once we get into smut territory, it will be after ShikaIno are legal adults (18), and it will be more detailed. There are also, obviously, characters who are alive who died canonically, and some ages tweaked a tiny bit for minor characters. Just wanted to get all of that out there so you guys know what you’re getting into with this fic! 
> 
> I really, really hope you guys enjoy this! I’ll update ratings and add tags and what not as we go along and characters/things are introduced. I'll warn you guys about any rating changes. :)

_Oh when I look back now_  
_That summer seemed to last forever_  
_And if I had the choice_  
_Yeah, I'd always wanna be there_  
_Those were the best days of my life_

The sun is in rare form for the end of spring, bright and bold as it hangs over the town in a sky as clear and as blue as the ocean that glitters brightly in the distance. From his place atop the roof of the high school, Shikamaru can just make out the swooping forms of the seagulls as they dip down and rise up, over and over again. It’s warmer than it has been in some time, a muggy undertone to the air that suggests the rapidly approaching summer.

His back is pressed against the warm concrete ledge beneath him, his body sprawled out with one leg dangling over the edge of the three-story building. His hands are folded neatly over his chest, his gaze vacant and distant as he gazes up at the sky. Choji sits crossed-legged near Shikamaru’s knees, safely away from the ledge with his shoulders resting against the short concrete lip that it created. Though this had been _their spot_ since they’d been freshmen, Choji has never been a particular fan of heights.

Ino, on the other hand, has no such reservations. She’s perched near Shikamaru’s head, shoes kicked off and bare feet flexing in the slight breeze as her legs dangle over the ledge. It’s difficult to see her from his angle - head tilted back, eyes squinted against the light of the sun. The rays halos around the blonde crown of her head, reflecting off of the shimmery gloss on her lips as they part for her to speak.

“...right, Shikamaru? Are you even _listening_ to me?”

He hadn’t been. _Damn_ ; she hates it when he zones out while she’s talking, but he thinks it can’t be helped considering that she’s _always talking._

“Of course you weren’t,” she pouts, voice a mixture of surly and irritable as she leans forward, her head blocking out the sun. He can see the frown pulling at her lips now, and true to form, Shikamaru responds with a roll of his eyes. “I was saying that we have to make sure this year's bonfire is really great. Like, better than any other year has been.”

“Yeah, but people say that every year,” Choji points out, voice slightly muffled by the sandwich he’s heartily consuming. His second, Shikamaru thinks.

“But this year I’m serious. It’s the last bonfire we’ll ever have - and then we’ll be seniors. This summer has to be perfect.”

Every year on the first true day of summer, the local kids throw a bonfire that tends to burn well into the night. It's a tradition that they’d first been indoctrinated into the summer before their freshman year of high school, and one that they all look forward to eagerly. By the end of the spring term, they were all restless and ready for what always promised to be a long, hot summer. It was an important season for the town; they were heavily tourist driven, with the summer months promising to bring an influx of vacationing families and college students to the beach. They’d flood the hotels, cram into the restaurants and diners, flock to the beaches; they’d be grinning, sunburnt, and more than a little exhausted when they returned home - but for Shikamaru and his friends, they would remain long after the tourists went home, their pockets heavier for it. 

Summer was the time when the majority of his classmates took up part-time jobs purely to pad their savings and earn extra spending money to be tucked away for the year. There was no shortage of openings during the busy season, and each year most of them returned to the same job they’d held every summer from the moment they were old enough to work. Some of them did so out of obligation to their parents; many of the locally owned businesses belonged to his classmates' families. For others, it was an opportunity to spend time with their friends while earning money doing it. For Shikamaru, it was partially due to sheer boredom, and partially because he was smart enough to know that any opportunity to help his parents financially with his looming college fees had to be taken. 

Ino’s talking again, and Shikamaru lets his eyes drift partially closed as he hones in on the sound of her voice, not wanting to face her inevitable wrath if she catches him not paying attention once more.

“Temari is supposed to be taking care of the booze,” she’s saying, leaning back on the ledge to swipe a granola bar from her bag. The wrapper crinkles as she tears at it with her lavender-colored nails, before snapping it in half and holding out the still-wrapped portion to Shikamaru without blinking. He takes it automatically, shoving half of it into his mouth. “I guess Kankuro’s coming home from college for the summer with some of his friends, and he said they’d supply. ‘For the sake of the sacred bonfire’, or whatever.”

“It’s not like we’ve ever had trouble getting booze before,” Choji adds. 

Ino sighs, slapping her palm down on the ledge beside her, narrowly missing Shikamaru’s head. “We’ve never been the ones who planned it before, though. That always fell to the other seniors. What if we let everyone down? I mean, Sakura and Hinata promised they can handle decorations - “

“What decorations?” Shikamaru snorts. “We’ll be on the beach.”

Ino’s eyes narrow as she continues. “ - and Kiba and Naruto are gonna bring the wood. Choji, you’re still in charge of food; don’t forget Tenten offered to help. My dad said I could borrow his boombox, you know the big old one? And then - “

She’s quick on the way to working herself into a frenzy, and frankly Shikamaru had long ago grown tired of listening to her endless stream of anxiety regarding the damn bonfire. Sighing in exasperation, he reaches back and nudges her shoulder - gently. The last thing he needs is to accidentally push her off of the roof; the idea alone makes his frown deepen, his hand briefly lingering on her shoulder until he’s sure she’s steady. “Hey. Calm down, won’t you? All you’re gonna do is give yourself a headache. It’ll be fine.” 

She huffs, her breath momentarily lifting her hair away from her face, revealing two eyes as big and as blue as the sky. She’s lucky - they’re complimented by the royal blue skirt that’s a part of the girl’s dress code, and they stand out sharply in contrast with her ivory button-up blouse. Shikamaru had always thought it stupid for their touristy little beach town to require uniforms in their schools, as if their students are posh and prim and proper. Something about “keeping students focused on their education, not their clothes, while presenting a neat and united appearance”. He can still remember his snort of derision when Principal Tsunade had squeezed that into her new-school-year-speech. He supposes he shouldn’t complain; most of the guys hadn’t minded buttoning themselves into slacks and tucked-in shirts if it meant seeing the girls in their skirts and thigh-highs, or their form-fitting blazers in cooler weather. 

_So much for keeping the focus off of clothing,_ Shikamaru thinks as Ino pushes herself away from the ledge, brushing one hand over her skirt as she peers at her cheap plastic wrist watch. 

“Well, I hope you two are right. C’mon, we’re gonna be late for fourth period.” 

Grudgingly, Shikamaru peels himself away from the warmth of the sun, murmuring a quiet “ _how troublesome_ ” under his breath. He’d hoped to snag a nap during the lunch period, but he should’ve known that was impossible with Ino around. Sometimes he wonders what’s going on in that mind of hers - it must move as fast as the wooden roller coaster that looms over the boardwalk, lit up bright and vivid at night. Or maybe it’s more like a hurricane, a constant swirl of thoughts and ideas and dreams. He can’t possibly fathom how she isn’t always exhausted, but then again, Ino has always been this way.

She, Shikamaru, and Choji had been tied together since infancy - their parents were close friends, and in fact the trio of women had taken Lamaze classes together when their children were all still in the womb, something they loved to remind the kids of. Ino and Shikamaru had been born only a day apart, though Choji had arrived four months ahead of them, two months premature. Clearly that hadn’t stunted his growth or crippled his health; by the time they were toddlers, the three of them were getting along swimmingly with each scheduled playdate. 

Or, as swimmingly as they could. Ino had always been bossy and spirited, and Shikamaru was often on the receiving end of her attention, whether negative or positive. Still, they’d always been friends, the three of them walking home together at the end of each school day the moment they were old enough to. Ino would grab their hands each time they had to cross the street, and she was always the one that the boys dropped off first, her sparkly purple backpack bouncing against her spine as she waved to them before darting inside.

They’d grown, and they’d made other friends, but their own bond had never faltered. Their tradition of walking home from school morphed into biking home together; in their quaint town, it was easier that way, rather than draining their meager savings on a beater car that wasn’t worth the gas it would guzzle. Though Shikamaru would never admit it out loud, he cherished those afternoons spent pedaling along, sometimes racing Ino and sometimes competing with Choji to see who could ride on one tire the longest. 

“Shikamaru? You’re all in your head today, huh?” Choji nudges him with a grin, and Shikamaru blinks, shoving his hands in his pockets as he follows after the rapidly-retreating form of Ino, Choji on his heels. 

He was _always_ in his head, truth be told. Where he’d speculated that Ino’s thoughts were a hurricane, his own are like a slow-moving freight train: steady, linear, able to pick up speed when he needed but otherwise content to chug along. Shikamaru is arguably one of the most intelligent students of their year, _every_ year, but like his peers he found himself burned out by the end of the semester, more content to daydream until the bell signaling their dismissal jarred him back to reality each day.

“Just ready to be done with this semester, is all.” It’s partially true at least; Choji nods knowingly as the pair of them slip back into the building behind Ino, the trio making their way down the hot, echoing staircase to reach the second story. There are few students left lingering in the locker-lined halls as they hurry down it, sneakers squeaking against the shining linoleum floors. 

“Told you we were gonna be late,” Ino grumbles, ponytail snapping behind her from her brisk pace.

“Yeah but at least it’s Asuma’s class,” Shikamaru points out, rolling his shoulders lazily. Asuma is, without question, the trio’s favorite instructor - and to their glee he taught several electives, meaning that each year they would group up to select one of his classes that they’d all take. This year, they’d chosen Strategies for Academic Success, popular amongst juniors. They hadn’t decided on next semester yet - Ino wanted Lifetime Fitness & Nutrition, which Choji was staunchly against, much preferring Home Economics instead. Shikamaru, content to let them squabble amongst themselves, doesn’t care either way.

They slip into the classroom five minutes late and Asuma, perched nonchalantly on his desk, shoots them a glare - ruined entirely by the way he tries to fight his rueful smile - as they slide into their seats. Ino settles into her desk behind him, Choji to his left. To his right, Kiba glances at him and grins in acknowledgement. 

“Now that _everyone_ has decided to grace us with their presence,” Asuma continues, “let's talk about your final analysis papers. We have a week left until summer break, and I need them turned in by tomorrow evening at the absolute latest. I know you all live to see me suffer, but you gotta give me adequate time to grade these. I’d like to give them as much time as they deserve.”

For a quarter of the semester, they’d been periodically working towards a large project; they’d had to put together a detailed and in depth plan for studying and self-care in a theoretical college term, demonstrating the knowledge they’d learned to contribute to a healthy academic environment. Shikamaru had added the finishing touch to his a week ago, though he knew Choji still had ample work to do and Ino was agonizing over “perfecting” her own (he’d read it, and thought it was fine; she’d huffed when he told her that). 

“I’d like you to spend our class period today working on those,” Asuma continued as people began to root through their bags, pulling out binders and pens. “If you’re done or you’ve already turned it in, consider using this valuable time to work on final assignments for your other classes.”

Shikamaru sighs softly; he’s finished with those, too. Maybe he’ll get his nap after all. 

From behind him, there’s the sound of paper ripping and swift scribbling. A moment later, Ino’s slender hand jams its way under one of Shikamaru’s arms, her nails grazing the skin of his wrist as she plops a note onto his desk. Ignoring Kiba’s pointed eyebrow waggling, Shikamaru unfolds it, eyes skipping over the familiar looping, girlish scrawl in purple ink. 

_‘You have to help me convince Choji to take Fitness & Nutrition this summer. :)’_

Ugh. Shikamaru leans down to fish in his bag for a pencil; it must take him too long, for a moment later Ino is impatiently jabbing her own sparkly gel pen into Shikamaru’s spine. He scowls as he reaches behind him to snatch it from her, messily scribbling his response and tossing it back to her: _‘Aren’t you supposed to be working on your perfect paper?’_

More scratching; his hand is already behind his back, spread open and ready to take the note that she presses against his skin. _‘Please, Shika? I already know how to do most of the stuff Home Ec teaches. Choji just wants it for the cooking portion, and that only lasts a quarter of the term.’_

He glances towards Choji, who’s bent over his binder scribbling away, apparently frantic to finish with the reminder that the deadline looms so soon. He really, really doesn’t want to get involved with this; he tells Ino as much in the note, pushing it and the pen back to her desk. 

Her scribbling is downright hostile now, and she practically throws the half-balled up note at his head. It bounces to the floor beside his sneakers, and he barely manages to stomp on it before Asuma’s eyes flit up in suspicion, torn from the book he’s reading. After a moment, he returns to his hobby and Shikamaru snatches the note up from the floor, unfolding it clumsily. 

_‘Fine then. I don’t know why I bothered asking in the first place. Too troublesome for you.’_

Shoving the note in his bag, Shikamaru lets his head drop to his desk, a headache already brewing behind his temples. He knows what this means: Ino will be in a huff with him on their ride home, before popping up tomorrow in her usual form, as if she’d never even been angry with him at all. 

__How troublesome._ _

__

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

He’s right, of course. The bell rings after sixth period PE, which they’d spent half-assedly playing volleyball while Coach Jiraiya flirted with a secretary who’d ambled down to pull one of their classmates for early checkout. Ino doesn’t say anything to him when she emerges from the locker room, changed from her school-issued shorts and t-shirt back into her uniform. He still peels away from the wall where he’s been waiting for her, and together the two silently make their way out of the gym and down the hall to Choji’s sixth period, Literature Throughout the Ages. He’s emerging just as they reach them, and together they press through the throng of students rushing to get home.

“Hey, Ino!” Naruto slips his way into their gaggle, grinning at the three of them before focusing his attention on the girl in question. “Hinata and Sakura are digging around Sakura’s attic tonight. I guess her mom has a lot of stuff up there that she thinks you can use for the bonfire. Anyway, she had to leave early but she wants to know if you wanna swing by and help. I’m seeing Hinata before she heads over so, y’know, I can let her know.”

His mouth runs a mile a minute, Shikamaru figures. Frankly, he doesn’t know how Naruto finds the time to breathe, similarly to Ino but somehow worse. 

“Oh - yeah, sure, you can tell them I’ll be there. Thanks.” Ino brushes her bangs out of her face - a futile effort. Before Naturo has even peeled himself away from them, they’ve fallen back into one eye. She clutches her bag close to her as she bursts out into the sunlight, lifting her face towards the warmth with a soft smile. Shikamaru finds himself watching her, until she turns and catches his gaze. She stares at him for a moment, and then her brows furrow, that little divot appearing that always does when she’s angry. She sticks her tongue out at him and whirls away to unlock her bike.

“Childish,” he mumbles, but from the way Choji smiles at him, Shikamaru knows he didn’t sound terribly convincing. He takes his time unlocking his own bike, and once Choji’s done they’re off. Ino surges ahead on her teal beach cruiser, her bag nestled snugly in the basket she attached to the handlebars. Shikamaru can’t help but to notice the way her skirt rides up on her thighs just slightly, her sock-clad knees bobbing up and down as she gathers speed. 

Suddenly she turns over her shoulder and raises her eyebrows at him, her voice nearly ripped away by the wind as she calls out, “C’mon then, Shika, aren’t you gonna race me? Scared to lose?” It seems as if she’s forgiven him quicker than he’d thought and Shikamaru can’t help the smirk that spreads across his features. Wordlessly he begins to pedal rapidly, and Ino’s eyes widen as she hastens to pick up speed against his onslaught. Her laughter is wild and bright, and behind them Choji complains noisily as he follows, used to their antics by now.

Ino and Shika’s wheels are flatout tied when they round the corner for her street; he could really push her, drive ahead and school her at the last second. But he doesn’t. He lets them continue on at their even pace, until they cross the imaginary finish line at her mailbox and immediately begin squabbling about who won. Choji, panting and unamused, refuses to play the part of ref. In the end, they both outwardly maintain that _they_ won.

Shikamaru knows it was her, but where would be the fun in conceding that?


	2. Shikamaru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowow! I was so thrilled to see people commenting, and to see the excitement some of you had for this! Thank you all so much, I'm so excited to continue this!
> 
> And heeeere's chapter two! As a heads up, this is a slice of life fic, sort of? There's a plot but I wanted to throw that out there for the pacing. If it gets too slow or starts being tedious to read, PLEASE let me know. <3
> 
> If any of you are interested in the song that spurred this fic and the title, here you go: [All My Friends - Dermot Kennedy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCuLCaga-mM)

_Never let me down_  
_Just lead me home_

If Shikamaru’d thought Ino was insufferable _before_ she’s scrounged through decorations with Hinata and Sakura, he’d been dead wrong.

It doesn’t help that they’re trapped in the stuffy cafeteria with all of their classmates today, a lingering spring shower determined to make itself known before summer takes the reins. He’s seated at the very end of the cafeteria table, beside Kiba and partially across from Ino, who’s sandwiched between Sakura and Choji. Kiba and Naruto are both grumbling over the analysis papers they’d turned into Asuma three days before; there are only three days left in the semester, and then three blissful months of freedom. 

But first, he has to survive Ino’s obsession with the bonfire.

Even from across the table with his classmates jabbering around him, Shikamaru can hear Ino muttering things like _’enough fluid for the torches’_ and _’we need to find one extra cooler’_. Jesus, he doesn’t even know if she finds the time to sleep at night. He should’ve known the moment that she and Sakura seemed to boldly take up the task of organizing the bonfire that it would turn into this. They are the best of friends but also at times still rivals (though Shikamaru doesn’t think there’s any harm to it at all), and any event they are both in charge of is likely to be taken with extreme seriousness.

He thinks it’s silly. It’s clear that Ino and Sakura will be friends for life, and he doesn’t know why they keep at the competitive digs they’d fallen victim to in middle school. But hell, it’s not really his business, is it? He doesn’t know why he spends so much time trying to silently look out for Ino.

He glances up at the clock, frowning to see that there’s still fifteen minutes in their lunch period. When he’s on the roof and it’s just him, Ino, and Choji, it seems to pass by so quickly. Damn rain.

“What about you, Shikamaru?” Temari asks, leaning over the table to call across both Naurto and Kiba. He startles and glances up, eyebrows raising in a question as she grins. “Are you happy with all your final papers that you turned in?”

“Of course he is,” Ino murmurs under her breath, breaking away from her conversation with Sakura. “Shika’s always turning in his work early and getting perfect marks.”

Temari’s brow hikes higher, and Shikamaru finds himself shrugging nonchalantly, not bothering to dispute Ino’s claims. 

“Well maybe you’ll be up for some friendly competition next year,” Temari remarks as she sits back, preparing to rejoin her conversation with Tenten and Shino. “I needed something to really motivate me.”

Shikamaru blinks and slumps back down against the table, eyes flitting to the clock again. Huh. That entire interaction had seemed...like it lasted longer to him. More engaging. He remains as he is for the remainder of lunch, ignoring Ino’s gaze as it periodically flicks towards him. The conversation around him flickers between the bonfire, finals, summer jobs, and back around again - until right before the bell rings and Sai, from the very opposite end of the table, stands up.

Shikamaru doesn’t miss how Sakura flicks Ino a joking grin, and Ino cringes. He can’t help the roll of his eyes; Ino had been infatuated with Sai for nearly the entirety of middle school after Sasuke Uchiha had moved away. It was a crush Ino still regretted after an eighth grade movie date had left her deflated and disappointed. She’d swung by Shikamaru’s on the way home from the date, he remembered. She’d sighed as she perched on his porch, dressed up in a flowy off-the-shoulder blouse and dark jeans. Sai hadn’t been very gentlemanly, she’d lamented, and he hadn’t seemed particularly excited by her presence. Shikamaru knows that she hates to be reminded of it now, especially considering she’d continued to pine over him for months after the movie incident. 

“As we all know,” Sai is saying, drawing Shikamaru’s attention back to him. “Tuesday is our final day as juniors. But a weekend lies between now and then, and we can’t just waste it, can we?”

Shikamaru could do without the theatrics, even as his classmates seem to entertain it, their heads nodding in eager agreement.

“It just so happens that my parents will be out of town.” Sai’s grin widens; it’s all he needs to say. The table stirs with excitement, and Shikamaru watches as Ino shoots a toothy smile towards Sakura and Hinata. “Eight, Saturday night. I’ll see you guys there.”

Word would inevitably spread to the remainder of their friends and classmates who had separate lunch blocks. Already, the table is abuzz with excitement. The bell is the only thing that pulls them reluctantly away from each other, and as Shikamaru walks with Choji and Ino to class, the girl can barely contain her excitement.

“Man, things are turning out great,” she’s saying as she skips ahead, her skirt and ponytail swaying in unison. Today she’s decided to personalize her uniform with a scarf, the edge of which sways as well. Shikamaru finds himself watching it as he walks. “This party is gonna be amazing, and then everything for the bonfire is coming together. Oh, and look at how many of us are working together this summer! Isn’t it great, Shikamaru?”

He blinks as she whirls to face him, walking backwards as she gazes at him. As always, it doesn’t take long for her shoulders to stiffen.

“I got a job at the bowling alley this year,” she tells him, and he tilts his head in surprise. Normally she’d be working selling tickets for the ferris wheel on the boardwalk, while helping her parents in their floral shop when she could. Shikamaru has worked at the alley since his freshman year, alongside Kiba, Neji, and Tenten. Before he can say anything, Ino is barreling on. “Sakura is still working at the wheel, with Hinata and Shino. Choji’s at the arcade with Sai. And then of course Temari and Gaara are helping their parents with their restaurants. Everyone else is spread out.”

She’s babbling as they approach Asuma’s classroom; he doesn’t care about the other kids' jobs and he won’t remember a single word of what she’s said regarding them in a few minutes. But he hates that he missed her announcement about the alley; working with Ino for the entire summer makes him feel...weird.

He doesn’t think that it’s in a bad way.

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

The days race by, and suddenly it’s Saturday.

Choji and Naruto drop by his house at six unannounced; Shikamaru’s parents are out having dinner with friends, and so the boys tumble through his place and up to his bedroom to prepare for the swiftly looming party. Naruto himself seems downright giddy, always excited for an excuse to drink and make moon eyes at Hinata for hours on end. Choji, true to form, is more concerned with the snacks and video game competitions that always break out.

Shikamaru dons a simple pair of black shorts and a charcoal shirt, tucking his phone into the breast pocket that it sports. He slicks his hair back into its usual ponytail, slips on his black deck shoes, and waits until Choji and Naruto are ready to go. They bike from his place, and by the time they get to Sai’s, they’re certainly not the only ones there.

The house is lit up and animated, with the telltale forms of people within shadowed by the curtains. There’s the thump of music, just loud enough to promise a good time but dull enough to not disturb the neighbors on either side of Sai’s elaborate townhouse. There’s a glow of a lit cigarette burning through the darkness of the second floor balcony, and a low murmur of voices from above as the boys approach the front door. Through the frosted glass, Shikamaru sees someone dance past before he pushes inside of the, frankly, very impressive household. 

Their classmates are already gathered inside, some playing Xbox and some mingling in the kitchen as they make drinks. There’s music playing, but it’s low enough to leave room for conversations that don’t require yelling. Some kids have spilled out into the backyard, and others are participating in what appears to be an extremely early game of Two Truths and a Lie.

Choji instantly peels away towards the gaming console lit up in the living room, leaving Shikamaru and Naruto to press their way into the kitchen. Immediately they’re offered drinks by the occupants, and Shikmaru accepts as he leans back against one of the counters. Shortly later he’s cradling whisky and coke in a solo cup, his lips twitching at the corners as he downs a gulp of it.

Sai’s in the middle of the room regaling them with a story about his previous hometown and some scandal when Ino walks in. She’s flanked on either side by Sakura and Hinata, and they pause in the doorway, giving Shikamaru a good glimpse of them as they glance around. Ino’s clad in a pair of dark leggings, a white tank top covered by a light jean jacket rolled at the elbows. Her arms are bare save for a tangle of silver bracelets, and her hair is styled in two braids hanging over her shoulders. Her gaze lifts to meet his almost immediately, and then she’s pulling her friends through the throng of people until they’ve reached the kitchen.

“Shikamaru!” Ino grins, oblivious to Sai or the story he’d been telling. She sidles up, worming his solo cup out of his hands and taking a sip before grimacing. “Blech. What else is there?”

No one seems angry at her entrance, though Sai deflates a fraction. Half of the room continues listening to him while the other half offer a variety of drinks to Sakura, Hinata, and Ino. Sakura accepts a screwdriver, Hinata momentarily settles for water, and Ino...she watches him as Shikamaru rises to pour her a cup of half cranberry, half vodka. 

She takes it from him, and the party resumes. Sai has finished his grand story and is now trying to scrounge things together for beer pong in the backyard. Those who remain in the kitchen talk amongst themselves, and somehow Ino ends up perched on the counter next to Shikamaru. She’s watching everyone around her with a small smile on her face, and when she turns to catch Shikamaru looking at her, she quirks a brow.

“Sorry for the other day,” Shikamaru blurts out. He’s not sure where it came from at all, and he takes another gulp of his drink as Ino’s brow raises even higher. “About not listening at lunch, y’know? It’s cool that you’re working at the bowling alley this year. Why’d you decide not to go back to the ferris wheel?” 

“Oh, that.” Ino leans back on the counter, crossing her ankles and shrugging a shoulder. “They didn’t think we’d need so many people for ticket booth this year, and I am _not_ working the wheel. So I figured I’d look elsewhere and the alley was hiring.”

Huh. He doesn’t really have any issue with working with Ino; he knows she’s serious and determined, not like some of their classmates who seek out only the easiest jobs, content to spend the entirety of their shifts boredly scrolling through their phones as the cashiers of dead tourist shops. But not her - he’d seen her selling tickets for the wheel, always with a big smile and a sense of friendly professionalism that charmed customers. It didn’t matter that it was just some seasonal minimum wage job to her - she was going to do it right. 

He’s always admired that about her.

“Well,” he drawls, watching as Kiba and Naruto tumble out of the kitchen, playfully wrestling with each other as they tromp towards the backyard, lured by the promise of beer pong. “Guess I can teach you the ropes.”

Ino scoffs. “Don’t sound so excited.” 

“Didn’t know you’d be plaguing my work life, too,” he sighs, not at all surprised when she nearly chokes on her drink and indignantly aims an elbow at his ribs, driving the air from his lungs. “Ow, easy! Joking.”

“Your jokes suck.” She impishly sticks her tongue out, but before Shikamaru can respond, Tenten shimmies her way into the room and up to Ino, plucking her solo cup from her hands before whirling. “ _You_ need more of this, and then you need to come dance with me. What’re you drinking?”

“Vodka and cranberry, easy on the vodka,” Shikamaru interjects before he even realizes he’s done it. Tenten begins grabbing at bottles as Ino casts him a look that he can’t quite decipher. He ignores it, choosing instead to refill his own concoction as well, the garble of voices and conversations a noisy hum in his ears. From the corner of his eye, he can’t help but notice that the moment Tenten hands Ino her drink, the blonde takes a significant gulp before being pulled towards the living room. 

He sighs, momentarily remaining where he is to sip at his own drink. There’s a good chance he’ll be the one escorting Ino home tonight, but he doesn’t mind. They’d made a pact during the summer of their sophomore year, when partying and drinking was becoming slightly more common: if Ino is ever drunk, Shikamaru will be the one to take her home. It doesn’t matter what time, or if Shikamaru isn’t at the party anymore, or if he’s asleep. She’d agreed to call him no matter what, and Shikamaru has always obliged when she does. It’s not often; Ino is usually coherent enough by the end of the night to make her own way home, often alongside Temari and Gaara, who don’t live far from the Yamanaka residence. But when she isn’t it’s Shikamaru who handles escorting her, even when he’s had to sneak out to do it. 

Tonight there’s a looseness about Ino that he rarely sees, and he knows the telltale signs that she’ll likely need him to stick around. So he finishes his drink, opts for water instead of another, and makes his way out of the emptying kitchen.

Some upbeat pop song is blaring from the speakers, and he catches a glimpse of Ino as she, Tenten, and Sakura laughingly surge through a series of dance moves that don’t quite match up with beat. Her cheeks are flushed red and her cup is clutched in her hand as she swivels her hips overly seductively, before dissolving into giggles. She’s already shed her jean jacket, and he knows he’ll be the one that has to hunt it down later.

Choji has seemingly retired from the gaming console, which seems to have been abandoned by their peers. He pops up beside Shikamaru with a handful of chips cradled in his palm, raising an eyebrow as his gaze flits from Shikamaru to Ino and back again. Still, he’s tactful enough to not say anything.

“You thinking about dancing?” Choji jokes around crunches, because Shikamaru _never_ dances. Admittedly he’s thought about it - surprising everyone and breaking into the fray, seeing the glee on Ino’s face - but he never has. He can’t dance worth a shit and he knows it. “Come on Shikamaru, show everyone your moves!”

“I will if you do.”

“Tch. Touché.” Choji peers at the people still gathered inside and then towards the backyard. “No beer pong for you?”

“Nah, I know how that goes. Kiba and Naruto argue endlessly over made-up rules and Sai acts like a smug asshole when he beats someone.”

Choji snorts, unable to dispute a single thing Shikamaru’s said. “Still, sometimes I wonder why you even come to these things.”

Shikamaru’s gaze snaps to Ino again, a few strands of blonde hair having escaped from her braids, frizzy and plastered to her skin as she pulls some ridiculously over-trendy move. “It’s either be bored at home or be bored here. At least I can get drunk with option B.”

He lifts his solo cup and takes a swig of water as he saunters out towards the patio. He’s got a light buzz from his first two drinks; he wasn’t technically lying.

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

An hour later that buzz is gone as Shikamaru reclines on one of the lawn chairs surrounding a cold fire pit, the air too warm and muggy to permit lighting it. Beer pong has morphed into general shenanigans in the yard, and at least one person has been accidentally shoved into Sai’s pool. Shikamaru cradles a half-chilled bottle of some cheap beer that Naruto had unceremoniously shoved into his hands, watching as the evening plays out.

He’s tired, and he really needs to get up early tomorrow to start doing some early research about colleges with his parents. But Ino is _definitely_ on the farther edge of buzzed, and he doesn’t feel like going home just to be called later. Plus, he strangely can’t stop watching the way Sai keeps seeming to conveniently find himself wherever she is, probably trying to worm his way back into her good graces after seeing the way her pants cling to her thighs.

_Whoa. Where’d that come from?_

Shikamaru shakes himself just as Shino thumps into the seat beside him, sighing heavily. Before long, a cigarette dangles between his fingers as he exhales with a huff. 

“You look like you’re having as much fun as I am,” he remarks, and Shikamaru smirks sarcastically but doesn’t answer. A moment later, Shino’s holding out an unlit cigarette in offering. 

Shikamaru opens his mouth to say no but reconsiders. He’s smoked once before when he was thirteen and dumb, and Shikaku had been livid when he’d caught his son. He hadn’t touched them since, but now, hell…

He doesn’t really know why he takes it, but he does. His fingers fold it between them and he lifts it, allowing Shino to light it. He drags in a hit, holds it - coughs. Shino kindly doesn’t comment as Shikamaru regains his composure and tries again. 

Better. His head feels light and fuzzy all of a sudden, and before he knows it Shino has risen with a half-wave, having decided to head home. Shikamaru stays where he is, though he only smokes half of the cigarette. It’s not long before the familiar scent of vanilla and bananas engulf him, and he knows exactly who it is a moment before Ino drapes herself across his shoulders from behind, her breath smelling of vodka and cranberries and mint as it washes across his face.

“Shikamaru! What’re you doing over here by yourself? We’re playing Never Have I Ever, c’mon.”

Before he can register anything else, she’s shimmied around to his front and starts pulling him by his arm. He sighs and mutters under his breath as he surges to his feet, and when he does, he watches as she gets a whiff of him. Her nose wrinkles, and briefly her gaze sharpens, sobers. 

“You smell really gross.”

“Thanks a lot, Ino.”

“I’m serious. Like smoke. Shikamaru - “

“Hey, come on. Gotta get a spot if you wanna play.” The tables turn and he begins to tug her towards the house, ignoring her spluttering protest. Once they get to the living room, she forgets about her suspicions quickly enough. 

Shikamaru somehow manages to not be involved in the game, instead snagging a role as a curious bystander. It’s perhaps not as exciting of a game as everyone was expecting, but it doesn’t seem to matter in the end. Sai’s house is full of laughter and cheer, all of them excited for the summer that looms. 

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

“Temari.” Shikamaru’s voice seems to stop the girl in her tracks, her blue eyes rising to meet his as he passes her in the hall. “Hey. Have you seen Ino?”

Something flickers in Temari’s eyes - disappointment? Resignation? - before she nods. “Uh, yeah, last I saw she was outside talking to Sai by the pool.”

Damn. He’s definitely gonna have to go extract her from that situation; it’s time to go home. But strangely he feels like it would be rude to leave Temari standing here in the hallway, her gaze still turned towards him. “Thanks. You and Gaara don’t have to wait around, I’ll get her home tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Temari shifts her weight from foot to foot, smiling. “It’s really nice that you do that.”

Is it? It's always just seemed like the right thing to do. Choji would’ve done the same thing, Shikamaru’s sure, was it not for his earlier curfew. 

“Thanks.” He doesn’t know what the appropriate response is, and Temari shifts again before starting to edge by him. 

“Hopefully you find her. See you later, Shikamaru.”

She’s gone then, and he mulls over the exchange as he starts towards the backyard. He’s seen Temari around often enough, ever since their family moved to the town and took up a failing restaurant. They’d been in middle school then, and though he’d never been close friends with her, they’d been amiable. It’s odd, the way she seems to be running into him more and more frequently, but thoughts concerning her quickly flee as he steps out onto the lawn.

Ino’s definitely drunk, her pants rolled up and legs dipped in the pool to her knees as she giggles maniacally over something Sakura is saying. Sai is close-by, of course, an obnoxious smile on his face; Naruto is sprawled in the grass beside them. 

“Ino.” Shikamaru’s voice draws her gaze as he hovers behind her, hands in his pockets. “C’mon. Let’s get going.”

She pouts, but to his immense relief she does not argue. Usually it’s much more difficult, but now he sees a sag to her shoulders as she pops up. He knows she’s been stressed about her finals and not even beginning to know what college to look at; she looks...tired.

Sai looks disappointed, but they say their goodbyes fairly quickly and then Shikamaru is ushering her through the house. On the way out, he tugs her jacket off of a chair and slips it over her shoulders.

They take his bike home, with Shikamaru vowing to retrieve hers from Sai’s house the following morning. She perches on the handlebars and leans back against his chest as he pedals, his chin on her shoulder so that he can see where he’s going.

She’s wind-ruffled and hiccupping by the time they get to the Yamanaka residence, but she makes it inside all the same. Shikamaru waits until she flicks the porch light off and then starts his journey home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS I love that Shikamaru guards Ino's body and looove seeing that brought up in fanfiction, but I struggled to figure out a way to portray that in a modern setting. I decided him getting her home safely when she's had too much to drink works!


	3. Ino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anddd my first Ino chapter. :D Comments are always very much appreciated <3

_Our coming of age_  
_has come and gone_  
_Suddenly this summer, it's clear_

When the sound of pots and pans clattering downstairs wakes Ino the next morning, she immediately groans. The sunlight filtering into the room through her curtains seems to scald her eyes when they slip open, and pain stabs at her temples insistently. She nuzzles deeper into the warmth of her fuzzy comforter, but she can't go back to sleep due to the racket that's drifting out of the kitchen.

That means her dad's cooking breakfast this morning, likely because her mom had to get to the shop early. Her father, while not a terrible cook, is _spirited_ in the mornings, and before long Ino can even hear him singing - badly. She sighs, slowly pushing herself up despite the throbbing protest of her skull. 

She reaches for her phone, the screen making her wince as it comes alive. There's a few texts from last night she'd fallen asleep before responding to, one from Tenten, and one from Sakura asking if she wanted to get lunch. Ino types out an affirmative and sends it before sighing. She desperately wants water, but she knows she probably looks blatantly hungover, so she opts for her bathroom instead.

Squinting at herself in the mirror, she decides it was a good call. She'd forgotten to take off her light smattering of makeup, her hair has half-escaped from its ponytail, and she can't help but laugh at herself as she hauls herself into the shower. 

She hadn't meant to drink as much as she had, and even though she feels like garbage, she hadn't _completely_ blacked out. She remembers Sai blatantly flirting with her by the pool before Shikamaru pulled her away, and riding home on the handlebars of his bike. 

She glances at the clock in her bedroom as she towels herself off, a cloud of vanilla lingering around her from her shampoo. He'll be by soon to drop off her bike; maybe she can slip outside and thank him. She doesn't even know if he'd had fun at the party; there'd been so many people, and she hadn't seen him as much as she usually did.

She tugs on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, slathers on her banana-scented suncream (Ino loves the sun, but her skin certainly does not), and slips downstairs. She manages to avoid the kitchen and slides on a pair of mismatched flip-flops at the door. Shikamaru's just turning to leave when she steps out into the yard, turning and raising an eyebrow at the sight of her.

"I did _not_ expect to see you up and functioning this early," he says with that insufferable smirk of his. "I was betting on you not getting out of bed at all."

"Yeah, well, maybe you should stop betting. You seem pretty bad at it." Ino twists her wet hair into a sloppy braid, loose at the bottom. It'll be undone in minutes. "I wanted to come outside and thank you, since I was already up."

"You don't have to thank me," Shikamaru rebuffs immediately, and Ino feels a stab of familiar irritation rise. Sometimes she really wishes he'd take her a little more seriously. Or take _anything_ more seriously, really. But before she can say anything he shifts his weight and sighs. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," she replies honestly, and this time his smirk doesn't seem so insufferable after all. "It was once Tenten started making my drinks that everything went downhill. That girl doesn't know the meaning of 'light on the vodka'."

"Better to just make your own. Or let me make it."

"Yeah but the point of you being at a party is to _party_ , Shikamaru. Not make me vokda and cranberries all night." She flops down on the porch steps, and he slinks over to sit on the stair beneath hers. "What about you? You don't seem too bothered this morning."

"Because I'm not hungover. Some of us remember to drink water in between," he shakes his head, fingers fidgeting. "Better check in on Choji though. He got buzzed and we both know that's a rarity for him." 

"Yeah, because he was trying to get up the courage to talk to Karui," Ino laughs, referencing the senior girl who'd swung by Sai's midway through the night. She hadn't stayed long enough for Choji to test his courage in the end; it was rare for her to have dropped by at all. "I think now that he knows she's going to a close college, he's not as scared as he used to be."

Shikamaru makes a noise of agreement, but before he can respond the door opens behind them and they turn. Inoichi stands above them, wiping his hands on a towel and raising his eyebrows at the pair. 

"Good-morning, Ino. I didn't know you'd gotten up. Good-morning, Shikamaru."

"Morning, sir," Shikamaru replies, straightening as Ino aims an innocent smile at her father. He looks unconvinced.

"Didn't know we were expecting you. Come on in and have some breakfast." And then, before Shikamaru can respond, Inoichi turns and disappears down the hall, whistling the whole way.

"I don't think that was a request," Shikamaru murmurs as Ino tries to suppress her laughter. 

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

Shikamaru wins Inoichi over in the end when he helps dry the dishes (Ino knows her dad likes Shikamaru, but he's also fiercely protective of her, to her dismay) and thankfully her dad doesn't ask why Shikamaru had stopped by in the first place. She couldn't tell him Shikamaru been bringing back her bike; he'd want to know why she hadn't ridden it herself.

But they dodge that particular bullet and Shikamaru ambles towards the back door to leave, Ino trailing behind him.

"You wanna come with me to check on Choji?" He offers over one shoulder. 

"Nah, can't. I gotta get together with Sakura. Tell him I said hi, though."

"Will do." He lifts a hand in farewell, and then he's gone just like that, leaving Ino standing in the hall and shaking her head at the familiar abruptness of his parting. Shikamaru isn't a big fan of goodbyes, and while she'd taken it personally at first, she's come to terms with it. It's just...Shikamaru. 

"Ino!" Her dad's voice is suddenly right behind her and she yelps, whirling around to find him grinning at her. "You know it's not safe to let your guard down in this house."

"You are the worst," Ino declares as she stomps towards the stairs, silently vowing revenge as her father's laughter booms through the house. 

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

Hair tamed and t-shirt exchanged for a more flattering tank top, Ino slips out of the house and bikes down to the boardwalk, heart-shaped sunglasses tinting the world orange and pink. She parks her bike and begins to navigate through the ever-growing swell of tourists, flip flops thwacking against the wooden slats beneath her. She sees a flash of pink and grins, waving at Sakura, who's leaning against the wall of a burger joint. 

"Did you have to pick the most unhealthy option _right_ before summer?" Ino asks as they step inside, seating themselves at one of the booths. 

"That's why I picked it. This is the last time I can shove a whole burger in my face before I have to start worrying about fitting into my bathing suit." Sakura grins, because they both know it's not true. They start out every summer dieting, but in the end, one of them breaks and the other follows. 'We work hard enough to burn the calories off anyways' is a commonly uttered phrase. 

"This year I think I'm gonna stick to it," Ino says, and when Sakura snorts, she whacks at her. "I'm serious." 

She's noticed how her body is changing, filling out in places she can't help but to be happy about. Ino's always been pretty, always had attention aimed at her, but she's noticed that it comes more frequently now. She's never denied liking it, and she's certainly proud of her looks. This time, she's determined to stick to her promise of looking her best.

"Just like you were serious about hating Sai for your rest of your life?" Sakura asks, and Ino splutters indignantly just as the waitress comes over. They both order burgers and cokes, and the moment the waitress is gone, Ino is talking.

"That's so not fair. I was drunk. Plus, it was his party. I couldn't exactly be a bitch to him in his own house while I was guzzling down his booze."

She crosses her arms smugly as the waitress sets down their drinks, before deflating a fraction as Sakura continues to stare at her. "Okay, it's just that it's kind of nice to be flirted with, y'know?"

"Kiba flirts with you all the time."

"Kiba flirts with _everyone,_ " Ino says dismissively and sighs. She knows Sai is probably still just as much of a jerk as he was before, if not moreso. But he's got a way of being charming when he wants to, and his face certainly doesn't hurt his case. "Maybe I'm just being an idiot."

"You are," Sakura declares, and they burst into simultaneous giggles as their food is deposited before them. Immediately Ino starts on her fries, while Sakura goes for her burger. 

Around bites Ino asks, "What about you? When're you finally gonna give Lee a chance?" 

Sakura nealy spits out her burger, eyebrows raised high. "Um, never? Did you drink yourself braindead last night or something?" 

"I'm just saying, I think you should," Ino tries. She periodically points this out to Sakura, who always reacts the same. "He seems really sweet, and he's liked you forever."

"Yeah, I know. He tells me all the time."

"That's dedication." Ino polishes off her fries, beginning to pick at her burger. Now she's just being cheeky when she suggests, "What about Naruto? He used to have that massive crush on you."

"Yeah, good idea, Ino. I'm gonna date _Naruto_ ," Sakura shakes her head with a grin. "And since we're apparently living in a fantasy world now, how about you date Shikamaru?"

Ino laughs at the sheer absurdity of it, conceding the victory to Sakura. There's not a single moment she's ever thought Shikamaru thought of her that way. Hell, half the time she was convinced it was a struggle for him to even tolerate her. He hadn’t even been paying attention when she’d broken the news she’d be working with him. "I don't think I've ever seen a girl catch Shikamaru's interest. It'll probably take some super smart girl he meets in college or something." 

"Can everyone please stop saying that word?" Sakura bemoans, the conversation switching topics rapidly, as it usually does. "My parents are obsessing over it already and I'm like jeez, at least let me have the summer."

"I don't know why they're bugging you. You've known you wanted to go to UNC since you were, what, three months in the womb? And you're definitely getting in. Meanwhile, I still have no idea where I want to apply to."

"Well you said somewhere close, right? There's only so many neighboring states."

Ino is exceptionally close with her parents, especially after a bought with cancer had left Inoichi with an amputation and a prosthetic leg when she'd been in the sixth grade. He'd been in remission since, and he'd adjusted to the leg amazingly (proven by how he could _still_ sneak up on her effortlessly), but she's never quite gotten over the fear that she could lose him. She doesn't want to be terribly far from her mom and dad as a result - but she still wants to go somewhere where she'll need to learn to live on her own, without their constant presence. 

"Yeah, I'll figure it out." Ino shrugs, leaning back against the cool plastic of the booth. "So, this is your treat, right? You are the one who invited me."

"Tch, cheapskate," Sakura murmurs, but she snatches up the bill all the same.

When they press out into the warmth of the sun, Ino cranes her head back and tilts her face towards it as they mull over what to do with the remainder of their Sunday. There's only two more days until they're done with school, and then the bonfire, which she finally feels like she's got all sorted out. 

Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she fishes it out while Sakura calls Tenten to invite her to a movie, her screen flicking to life to illuminate the text message waiting. It's her mom asking her to grab a loaf of bread on the way home, but underneath that there's an older text that she must have missed while she was cycling.

**_Shika [Today 11:52 AM]: Choji was okay. Not as bad as you were. Said hi._**

Ino rolls her eyes, thumbing a quick affirmative to her mother before switching back to her texts with Shikamaru.

**Ino [Today 1:03 PM]: glad he's okay, but I was NOT that bad. jerk.**

Okay, so maybe she had been - but she'd looked presentable enough when Shikamaru had shown up! Maybe not to her usual standards, but...

Chewing at her lip, she glances down as her screen lights up, her familiar nickname for Shikamaru flashing on the display above his text.

**_Shika [Today 1:05 PM]: Uh-huh. Tell it to someone who hasn't seen you every day for the last sixteen years._**

**Ino [Today 1:05 PM]: so has my dad but he didn't seem to notice, so ha.**

**_Shika [Today 1:06 PM]: Ino, he literally told you at the table that you looked tired, and you told him you'd been up all night finishing your last assignment._**

**Ino [Today 1:06 PM]: don't remember that happening, sorry. :p**

**_Shika [Today 1:07 PM]: Troublesome._**

"Inooo? You listening?"

"Huh?" Ino's gaze snaps up to Sakura, the small smile that has been pulling at her lips fading as she hurridly shoves her phone into her pocket. "Um, sorry. So is Tenten coming along?"

"Mhm, she's gonna bring Temari, too. Come on." 

Ino hasn't hung out with Temari as much as with some of her other classmates, but though they're not really friends, Ino doesn't have anything against the girl and she knows Tenten likes her. There's a memory that flashes then of her a few days ago leaning across the lunch table to playfully challenge Shikamaru, which had certainly caught Ino's attention at the time. She'd been tempted to pull her aside and tell her Shikamaru was probably a lost cause when it came to flirting, but she hadn't; it wasn't her place, and some strange part of her was almost curious to see if he would return Temari's attention. 

But that was one small moment that didn't mean anything, and so Ino smiles as she trails after Sakura, the two of them chattering away.


	4. Shikamaru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a filler chapter with some platonic(ish) fluff, but I wanted to slide this one into the rotation for pacing purposes, since the next chapter is the bonfire and might be a bit long. It'll certainly drive the plot forward. :D
> 
> Btw, the Suna's = Gaara/Temari/Kankuro's surname. I couldn't find anything on a proper surname for them and I'm not original, so, boom! Might have been self explanatory but I wanted to make a note of it. 
> 
> And lastly, thank you all SO much for your comments and reviews! I really can't explain how much I love getting an email notification about comments, and especially seeing that you guys are enjoying this fic. Makes my whole day <3

_And I'm highly suspicious_  
_that everyone who sees you wants you_  
_I've loved you three summers now, honey_  
_but I want it all_

They’re sitting in homeroom during the last period of the day and from the corner of his eye, Shikamaru can see Ino’s knee bouncing wildly under her desk. It’s Tuesday, there’s only fifteen minutes left until the bell rings to release them for the summer, and Kakashi is currently prowling down the line of desks, passing out papers as he calls the names of students.

“Naruto, where are you sitting today - ah, right there. Pass this one to Hinata as well, please. Shikamaru…” Kakashi maneuvers his way over to Shikamaru’s desk, dropping a folded sheet of paper before the slouching student. The stack in the teacher’s hands is much lighter now, and he hums under his breath as he flips through the few grade sheets remaining before turning and dropping Ino’s on her desk. 

“Oh no,” Ino whispers the moment Kakashi has sauntered away, her face a shade paler than usual. Shikamaru barely fights back a sigh, knowing what’s to come. “I can’t open mine. Will you do it for me?” 

She snatches up the sheet, shoving it unceremoniously in Shikamaru’s direction. Every year she does this, and every year he obliges her before he’s even opened his own. “I don’t know why you always freak out. The last time you made anything lower than a B was in the eighth grade, and I remember you crying about _that_ for hours.” 

She makes a noise of indignation in the back of her throat, puffing up in preparation, but before she can say a word Shikamaru has unfolded the paper, his eyes swiftly scanning down the list of finals results and grades that stand out in bold black ink. At the bottom, a fraction larger than the rest of the text, is an estimated GPA. Ino’s is certainly nothing to sneeze at. “See? Exactly what I thought.”

Ino snatches it from his hands, eyes widening as she takes in the numbers on the page. “Oh, whoa, I thought I was gonna do _way_ worse on my Calculus final…” 

Shikamaru snorts but ignores her in favor of taking a glance at his own grade sheet; none of what he sees there is much of a surprise to him. He’s worked hard all year, as he always does, and it’s reflected on the paper that he’s already folding away to tuck into his pocket.

“Lemme guess,” Choji says, ambling down the aisle towards where Ino and Shikamaru sit. Homeroom has broken into loose groups of students clustered around desks while Kakashi sits peering at his computer screen, investigating the cause of a botched number on Gaara’s sheet. “Ino, you did great. Shikamaru, your GPA - predictably - hasn’t dropped below that 4.0. Two for two?”

“Bingo,” Shikamaru replies as Choji leans a hip against his desk. “And you...terrible math score, pretty good otherwise?”

“Yup. Not as bad as usual, though. Kurenai rounded my grade up to a C, thank god, so at least it’s a passing grade. Me and math are never gonna get along.” 

“I told you that I’d tutor you,” Ino chimes in with a huff. “I owe you one after you helped me with that American History project, anyways.”

“Yeah, but I’m saving that for something big and difficult. That way you really gotta work for it.” Choji’s grin is huge as Ino rolls her eyes playfully, and there’s a sudden explosion of movement in the room as the shrill tones of the bell signify the end of their junior year. Ino skyrockets to her feet immediately, practically bouncing on her heels as she waits for Choji to gather his things. Shikamaru himself is in no particular hurry to peel himself away from his chair, and Ino huffs, aiming a frown in his direction. 

“Come _on_ , Shikamaru! Everyone’s going to that pizza place beside the Suna’s restaurant, and I really don’t wanna have to sit outside if all of the tables are taken. It’s freakin’ hot.”

“Poor princess,” Shikamaru murmurs under his breath, but it’s not quiet enough; Ino’s half-assed smack is entirely expected when her palm slaps against his shoulder. Still, he just can’t resist taunting her. “Was that supposed to hurt?”

“Would you like it to?” Ino fires back, batting her eyelashes sweetly. Shikamaru isn’t sure why his stomach drops at the sight, like the moment when you’ve finished the climb of a coaster and suddenly find yourself at the crest, so high up that it feels unnatural. A tip forward, nothing keeping you alive aside from the press of restraints and the seat underneath you, and then a free fall that sends stomachs spiraling. 

He blinks, dragging himself out of his thoughts as he lurches to his feel suddenly, towering significantly over Ino. He’s not the tallest person in their year, but he’s certainly far from short - and the top of Ino’s high ponytail barely brushes his chin on her _best_ hair days. He watches with no small sense of satisfaction as her eyes widen briefly at his sudden movement, but she’s not thrown off guard for long. Her head tilts back, chin setting defiantly as she quirks a brow at him. 

“Nah, not really,” he says, answering her question at last. And then, he curls his shoulders and leans down so that his voice is a low murmur somewhere near her temple. “But thanks for the offer. Didn’t know you were into pain.” 

“What - I’m not - _Shikamaru!_ ” Ino’s voice raises several octaves, but Shikamaru has already whirled away, grinning as he strides to join an ever-patient Choji in the hallway. 

“Do I even wanna know?” Choji asks, not looking up from the _Game Informer_ issue he’s reading as he peels away from the lockers to join Shikamaru. The two of them begin to make their way down the thinning hall, leaving Ino scrambling to catch up with them.

“Probably not. Maybe I shouldn’t have riled her up, though. Now you have to suffer through her huffing the entire time.”

“I do not _huff_ \- “ Ino insists, having unfortunately caught up at the tail end of Shikamaru’s sentence. He hides the miniscule wince that tries to settle onto his features; he’s gotta work on not actively trying to piss her off sometimes, just to see the red flush that settles on her cheeks and the fire in her pale eyes. 

“Nah, it’s alright. I never mind spending time with you guys, even if you’re fighting like cats and dogs,” Choji says, blessedly cutting Ino off. Her mouth snaps shut and twists into a smile as she slings one arm over their short friend’s shoulder. Choji always seems to know how to diffuse tensions between the group; he’s undoubtedly the glue that mends the cracks in their bond. 

They push outside, and the difference is night and day; the air-conditioned linoleum gives way to a wave of heat, the sun bearing down heavily on the asphalt of the parking lot. They hurry (as much as Shikamaru will allow) to their bikes and set off, and when they pass the stop sign that separates school property from the street, Ino lets out a delighted whoop. Even Shikamaru has to admit that it feels damn good to be done for the next three months; a rare smile spreads across his face as Choji responds to Ino with a cheer of his own.

The heat is much more bearable while they’re riding, their bikes weaving in and out of shaded portions of the streets. The wind blows across Shikamaru’s face, tugging gently at the pinnacle of his restrained hair. Ahead of him, he watches as Ino seems to feel the same thing, one hand lifting from the handlebars to tug the pink scrunchie from her hair. Pale gold strands burst loose and catch the wind, and it’s such an unusual sight - Ino with her hair entirely unbound - that Shikamaru can’t help staring.

By the time they get to the pizza parlor, there’s already a cluster of bikes there. They park theirs, and Ino grabs the pair by the wrist to tug them towards the building. A bell chimes above the door when they step inside, and Shikamaru can’t resist sniffing at the air, inhaling the smell of tomatoes and baked mozzarella. Their classmates are already crammed inside, and Ino sighs in resignation - until suddenly a hand raises in the back corner, and Sakura’s pink head pokes up.

“Ino! I saved you guys a spot over here,” she calls, and Shikamaru rolls his eyes as delight floods Ino’s features. She’s off through the throng of chairs and bodies, leaving he and Choji to trail behind. Sakura is pressed into one side of a booth with Tenten and Hinata beside her; Ino lets Choji slide in first and then follows herself, with Shikamaru on the edge. While the girls across from them have an easier time of fitting neatly, Shikamaru isn’t tiny and neither is Choji, in a different sense. That leaves his side pressed against Ino’s, her warmth bleeding through their uniforms, heating his arm and thigh. 

There’s two half-eaten pizzas already sprawled on the table, and Sakura motions for them to dig in, as long as they get the next round. Ino’s hand snakes out, taking a single slice of extra cheese, no toppings - her absolute favorite. Shikamaru and Choji both take slices from the pepperoni instead.

Ino and the girls immediately begin to discuss their grades, while Choji is content to eat and offer occasional commentary. Shikamaru glances around the place as he chews, spotting all of the usual faces; Kiba is moving from table to table, people are talking across the (admittedly small) dining area, and the workers don’t seem to mind in the least. Polishing off his slice, Shikamaru leans back against the padded seat behind him, pacing himself for more. 

“Ino!” For the second time, someone calls out to her. This time, Shikamaru finds he isn’t terribly pleased with who. Sai, from two tables over, is leaning forward with his elbows propped and fingers intertwined. “How’d that Calculus final you were dreading go?”

Shikamaru hates that he knows that. Which, okay, is a little odd. Ino had vocally fretted over the exam, lamenting over it multiple times in the company of their friends. Hell, maybe that’s what she’d been rambling to Sai about that night when Shikamaru had pulled her away from the pool. But still - he feels his body tense, just a fraction. There’s no way Ino will fall for this guy _again_ after how much she’d condemned him...right? 

Ino tears herself away from her conversation and dabs at her mouth with a napkin, glancing up at Sai. From the corner of his eye, Shikamaru takes a moment to study her. Her hair is still loose and long, but she’s tucked it back neatly behind her ears, and her school-issued button-up is partially open to reveal a tank top underneath. The sleeves are rolled up to her elbows, and when she drops her arm to her side, it presses against his. 

She moves the napkin and she’s smiling, and Shikamaru has to make himself look away as he takes another slice of pizza. Still, that doesn’t stop him from being able to hear her - she’s practically yelling it in his ear, for gods sake. 

“Good, actually! You were right. I was just psyching myself up way too much.”

“Of course you were,” comes Sai’s infuriating drawl, never missing a beat. “I told you how smart you are.” 

Shikamaru glances up, intending to raise a brow at Choji - but instead it’s Sakura who his gaze lands on across the table. She’s frowning hard at Ino, who doesn’t seem to notice; a moment later the table jolts and Ino hisses, flinching against Shikamaru as she rubs at her shin.

“Ow! Sakura, what the hell?”

“Sorry! It was an accident. I was trying to get your attention.” Sakura widened her eyes a fraction. “Go to the bathroom with me?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Ino’s still pressed more tightly against Shikamaru, and she practically nuzzles her shoulder into his side when she tries to nudge him. “Lemme up.”

He slips out of the booth and Ino follows shortly after; Shikamaru can’t help how his hand shoots out, landing oh-so-briefly on her waist to steady her before she’s gone. He slumps back into the booth, sighing as Hinata and Tenten peer across the table.

“So,” Tenten says, drawing out the word for a while. “Uh. You guys are coming to the bonfire?”

It’s hard for Shikamaru not to snort incredulously; Choji, luckily, manages to handle it more tactfully first.

“‘Course we are. Ino might strangle us if we didn’t. She’s put a lot of work into it.”

“She and Sakura both have,” Hinata agrees softly. “We’ve tried to help as much as we can.”

Frankly, Shikamaru’s just glad that Ino has quieted down about the bonfire, seemingly content with her work. He hates when she’s stressed and hyper-focused on some task, because it tends to consume her every thought and word, and _that_ is not his favorite mood of Ino’s. 

He’s zoned out by the time Ino and Sakura return, and it takes him a moment to stand up to let Ino in the booth. But instead of sliding in, Ino glances up at him and mutters, so quietly he almost misses it amidst the chatter, “I’m gonna get going.”

It’s clear no one but him has heard her, which seems intentional. He blinks, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he glances back towards the table. They’re all already emerged in conversation again, none of them paying attention to him and Ino. “Okay. Let me leave a little cash since we didn’t buy a pizza, and I’ll tell Choji we’re going. You wanna wait outside?”

“Mhm.” She turns, and in a flash she’s gone, lost in the crowd of fraternizing classmates. Shikamaru ducks back into the booth, fishing out his wallet and laying several bills on the table. Each girl turns their attention to him, but he simply lifts his hand in farewell before leaning close to Choji.

“Ino’s not feeling it, I guess. I’m gonna take her home. You wanna come along?” 

“I…” Choji hesitates, and that alone grabs Shikamaru’s attention. “I mean, is she alright? Or is it a Certified Crisis? Because Karui said she’d stop by soon, and…”

“Say no more. I’ll text you if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got this. Good luck.” Shikamaru grins and slaps Choji's shoulder before he slips out of the booth, pressing outside and immediately searching for Ino. 

She’s by the bikes, and she’s silent as Shikamaru approaches her. She doesn’t immediately reach for her bike, so Shikamaru stands in front of her, waiting. He wishes he would have brought those damn cigarettes he’d gotten his hands on; his fingers long to fidget with something now, and his body desires the buzz. It'd be worth it, even knowing that Ino would throttle him for it. 

“Shikamaru?”

Her voice grounds him to reality immediately. “Hmm?”

“Do you think I’m being dumb? For not telling Sai off?” 

He winces, shifting from foot to foot. Straight to the point, and he’s not sure if he’s ready for this conversation. “Is that what Sakura said?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not mad at her. I get how it looks, and I know she just cares about me. But…”

She trails off, and it doesn’t seem like she’s inclined to finish her sentence. Shikamaru sighs quietly, lifting a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. “Look, I don’t know what you want me to say. I think Sai’s a jackass, and I think he doesn’t deserve a second chance.”

Ino stiffens a bit, and Shikamaru holds his hand up before he goes on.

“I know that’s what Sakura’s already told you. Maybe Tenten and Hinata, too. I know you’re tired of hearing it. And Ino - you can do whatever the hell you want. Your friends don’t get to tell you how to make yourself happy, but I think if all of the people who care about you are telling you not to give someone a chance, maybe you should at least consider what that means. And whatever you decide in the end, that’s fine. It’s up to you.”

He hadn’t meant to say quite so much, but it’s like Shikamaru’s mouth is running two beats ahead of his brain. Ino tilts her head at him considerately, as if he’d changed without her ever realizing it until that very moment. He’s not sure what’s running through that brain of hers, but after a heartbeat she smiles and finally moves to detangle her bike from the fray.

“Thanks, Shikamaru. Really.” One long leg slings over the bike, her skirt settling over her thighs as she looks at him. “You didn’t have to leave just to take me home, y’know.”

Shikamaru shrugs as he grabs his own bicycle. He hadn’t really even considered staying at the time; Ino’s voice had been so soft and her gaze downcast, and he’d immediately known that he would follow her out of the parlor. He settles onto the seat of his bike without answering her, but Ino seems content with his silence. She shakes her head ruefully and begins to pedal down the sidewalk, and Shikamaru lets her get a few paces away before he follows.

As he rides past the entrance to the restaurant, Sai steps out, lifting a hand to shield his gaze from the sun. He glances around, seeming to spot Ino’s receding figure. A moment later, his gaze snaps to Shikamaru, and a frown pulls at his mouth. For reasons beyond him, Shikamaru can’t help the two-finger salute he offers the boy before he’s riding away from Sai, leaving his classmate confused and more than a smidge irritated as he follows Ino home.


	5. Ino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, that was a...big break. I am so sorry guys, totally unexpected. Life got busy and I wanted to make sure this chapter got the time it deserved. Glad to be back in the swing of things! <3

_I like that I can feel you now_  
_Maybe we can love somehow_  
_Baby, you and me_  
_right now_

At last, the day of the bonfire has arrived.

Ino is so excited that she wakes before her alarm has the chance to chime. It’s nearly seven in the morning, the sound of morning doves outside of her window greeting her as she sits up in bed. The bonfire won’t start until it’s dark, and she really could sleep in for a few more hours if she wanted to...but Ino knows it’s a pointless endeavor. 

She can’t even force herself to take her time getting ready; in less than fifteen minutes, she’s scrubbed herself clean, dressed herself in a pair of high-waisted shorts and a holey t-shirt, and cleaned up her (admittedly already tidy) bedroom. Later she’ll take the time to meticulously plan out her outfit for the night, but she’s still got things to help set up on the beach, and she’s certainly not doing _that_ in the flirty little sundress she’s already picturing in her mind.

She’s humming to herself by the time she practically skips into the kitchen, and her mother turns from her place in front of the stove with an amused, affectionate smile on her lips. She looks much less like Ino in coloration that Inoichi does, but if one were to look closely enough, they might notice the same pert, delicate nose and full brows, or the cat-like tilt to the edges of their eyes. When Ino was a little girl, she’d gone through a brief faze where she was terribly upset that she didn’t look more like both of her parents, rather than just the one. At every holiday gathering, relatives pointed out the startling similarities between Inoichi and his daughter, but never she and her mother. One night, Ino hadn’t been able to keep it to herself anymore; she’d cried until Eneko Yamanka had scooped her daughter into her arms and spent the better part of an hour pointing out the subtle similarities that Ino - and seemingly everyone else - had missed.

“Well you’re certainly up early,” Eneko comments as Ino swoops in to plant a quick kiss on her mother’s cheek. The smell of fresh linen and soap and the barest hint of flour from the smattering on Eneko’s nose washes across Ino, and a warmth blooms in her chest as she refocuses her attention on pulling the orange juice from the refrigerator. “How much do you have to do today?”

“Not much,” Ino replies, seating herself at the kitchen table with her glass of juice while Eneko finishes with the final pancake rising in her pan. “I mean, we have to set up all the chairs and tiki torches and stuff, but between me and the girls, that won’t take long. I’m just too excited.”

Eneko’s lips tug up at the corners as she turns to slide two warm pancakes onto Ino’s plate. The bonfire, while not a tradition old enough for her and Inoichi to have taken part in, is well-known. And if the parents suspect any booze or shenanigans in the sand, well...Ino’s parents have certainly never said a stern word to her about this particular rite of passage. “Eat up, then. You’ll certainly need all of the energy you can get, eh? You’re lucky your father will be at the shop all day. You won’t have to endure any of his teasing.”

And thank god for _that_. Ino loves her father, of course, but Inoichi has absolutely mastered the art of dad jokes and annoying ribbing, and she doesn’t think she’d be able to tolerate it when she’s already so nervous. She practically inhales her pancakes as it is, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by her mother.

“Ino.” Eneko’s voice is soft but firm enough to demand Ino’s attention, and yet still, there’s nothing but gentleness in her gaze. “Don’t work yourself into a frenzy. Everything is going to work out just fine. Remember to stop and breathe sometimes.”

Ino smiles sheepishly and nods, consuming the rest of her food much more slowly. She’s always been a bit high-strung, she knows; Shikamaru would refer to her as a “raging perfectionist”, not that she can particularly help it. She’s always hated the idea of disappointing people, of embarrassing herself, of being underwhelming when she _knows_ she can do so much more. 

When she’s cleaned her plate and washed it, she pauses just long enough to give her mother a warm hug before she’s gathering her things and slipping out the back door, tugging her hair into a messy bun piled high atop her head as she makes a beeline for her cruiser. She needs to oil the chain and give it a nice cleaning, but she can’t be bothered now; she wants to swing by a few shops before she meets Tenten and Sakura, determined to find a pair of sandals to go with her dress.

 _Everything has to be perfect,_ she thinks, the wind cool on her cheeks as she pedals down towards the boardwalk. It’s their very last summer together properly, after all; next summer will be consumed by each of them packing up and preparing to get settled into their new dorms and apartments and jobs. It feels so adult, so overwhelming despite the fact that she still has her senior year to get through. 

In the end, it doesn’t take her as long to shop as she would have hoped, and she’s fifteen minutes early by the time she’s parked her bike near the pier. She won’t have anything to set up until Sakura’s dad drops her off with the torches and chairs, so Ino kicks off her flip-flops and squishes the hot sand between her toes as she makes her way down to the water. There are thousands of tiny shells scattered in the damp sand where the tide abandoned them, some broken into fragments and others pristine. She crouches, sorting through them until she finds one small spiral so dark it almost appears black - until she tilts it just so and the sunlight catches it, illuminating it and revealing a warm honey-brown.

 _Like Shikamaru’s eyes,_ she thinks with a little smile, before dropping the shell and wiping her hand on her shorts. She can only imagine how he’d probably laugh at her if she took it back to him and confessed that she’d thought of him when she spotted it. Nose wrinkling at the visual, Ino is so lost in her thoughts that she yelps when Tenten’s voice sounds just behind her.

“Jesus, Ten!” Ino scolds as she rests one palm against her pounding heart, narrowing her eyes as Tenten giggles and clutches at her sides in amusement. “Maybe a little warning next time?”

“Hey, if you didn’t hear Sakura’s dad, then that’s on you.” Tenten has a point - now that Ino’s not spaced out, she can clearly hear Kizashi’s booming voice topping even the whining of the gulls. She lifts a hand to shade her eyes, watching as the boisterous man helps Sakura unload chairs, coolers, torches, and other various things the girls had found. “Did Choji ever let you help him with snacks?”

“Yeah, sorta. Kizashi took us ‘round to his place before we came here to grab the coolers. Most of it was Choji, though - but didn’t we figure it would be?” Tenten rolls her eyes, the pair of them picking their way across the sand to help Sakura. When they’re several feet away from the semi-rusted Branco that Kizashi is half-submerged in, Tenten’s voice pitches lower and quicker. “Hey, didja hear back from Temari yet?”

“Mhm, she texted me late last night,” Ino confirms just as softly, though her lips are already stretching into a wide smile. “Kankuro will swing by an hour before it starts with the drinks.”

There’s no time to say anything else; Kizashi emerges from the Bronco and catches sight of Ino at that moment. His greeting is so loud that a flock of nearby birds startle, chortling angrily as the man sweeps Ino into a hug that has her laughing immediately. Even when she and Sakura had been the fiercest of rivals in middle school (or so they’d thought), Kizashi had always been warm and welcoming to Ino whenever the girls would inevitably decide they were friends again.

“So!” Kizashi straightens, gesturing to the pile of things on the warm asphalt with a broad hand. “Shall we get started?”

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

Smoothing her hands over her stomach one last time, Ino sucks in a deep breath and tilts her head at herself in her full length mirror.

She looks...good. Soft, but not in a way that makes her look like a kid. Maybe even a little bit...mature? She puckers her lips at herself, considering. The sundress she decided on was one she’d brought the summer before and promptly forgotten about in her expansive closet, but it fits even better than she remembers. It’s black and covered in colorful sunflowers, petals open and thriving. The bodice clings to her breasts and stomach, before flaring at the waist and ending several inches above her knees, a length which she’d undoubtedly get ruler-checked for by Kakashi at school if she’d ever dared to attempt it. She’s paired it with her usual jean jacket, rolled up to the elbows, and matching sandals. Delicate silver jewelry dangles from her neck, ears, and wrists - enough to catch the firelight, but not to overwhelm. And her makeup - she’s gone simple; it will be dark. But her hair...up, or down?

She spends a few minutes alternating between, before puffing her cheeks out and poking her tongue out of her lips at herself. She breaks into giggles a moment later, sighing hard to relieve some of the attention. In the end, she’s a creature of habit - she pulls her hair into a sleek ponytail, tugs a small sling bag with all of the essentials over her head, and tromps down the stairs.

It’s 4:45 when she checks the clock on the stove; fifteen minutes before her dad leaves from work with _far_ too many dad jokes on his mind, fifteen minutes to get down to the beach before Kankuro shows up, an hour until it’s all finally happening. Ino is practically bouncing on her toes by the time she finds her mother in the living room. Eneko is curled up on the couch, reading glasses perched on her nose and a blanket on her lap, half-dozing. She smiles when Ino kisses her cheek, peering up at her daughter.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you in the car?” She asks, for the third time.

“No, that’s okay, mom. Remember I’m sleeping at Sakura’s tonight.”

“Yeah, don't remind me. Your father still doesn’t know _that_ part.” Eneko sighs with displeasure, and Ino is afraid she’ll change her mind, but instead the woman smiles. “Please be safe and call me when you’re back safe, no matter what state you’re in. Now go, shoo. Before your dad gets back.”

Ino won’t argue with that; she scrambles for the back door, still slightly pink at the insinuation her mother had made. She’s on her bike and off in record time, tucking strands of loose hair behind her ears with one hand while she steers with the other. She pedals like she’s being chased, and by some miracle, she manages to navigate the side streets without having to stop for many cars. She has time to spare by the time she parks her cruiser next to Tenten’s, and she takes a moment to compose herself, fixing her hair and rolling on a tube of cherry flavored lip gloss pulled from her bag.

She thought she’d be more nervous as the time ticked by, but strangely Ino feels calmer. She’ll be surrounded by her friends tonight, enjoying everyone’s company on final time before they’re swept into applications and essays and SATs. She fiddles with the hem of her dress, her brow furrowing at the thought. How different will things be this time next year? Will she even have time to see her friends? To see Choji...and Shikamaru? 

_Don’t be stupid. Of course you will._ Frowning at the strange sensation behind her eyelids, Ino pinches her cheeks to flood them with color before throwing back her shoulders and shaking out her ponytail. No more thinking about school or the future - she has shit to do.

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

“You’re late,” Ino scowls, folding her arms across her chest as she glares at Kankuro. He’s only halfway out of a monstrosity of a Jeep driven by some guy Ino’s never seen before, who lifts a hand in greeting as he and two other strangers clamber out of the vehicle. Kankuro’s eyes widen, one pale hand resting over his black-clad chest as if wounded. Then, slowly, his other hand rises and his index finger taps at the watch secured firmly around his wrist.

“Five-o-three, Ino.”

“You told Temari five.”

“Ach. You haven’t changed.” The pair of them stare at one another for a long moment, and then simultaneously break into grins as Kankuro folds Ino into a hug. It’s warm and familiar, and yet somehow new as well. He’s filled out a bit since he’s been away, though Ino tries her hardest to keep herself from noticing. She’d never been particularly close with any of Kankuro’s siblings, but being so similarly aged to the trio meant that Ino had spent her fair share of time with them. And Kankuro...well, he’d surprised Ino when they’d been paired together as gym partners during her freshman year. He was older, and it was only due to a scheduling error that they’d landed in the same period. 

They’d become friends - the kind of friends who spent every moment together in their shared class, and who greeted each other fondly in the halls, but who didn’t hang out after class or text each other. And when he’d gone off to college, Ino hadn’t heard much of him at all, besides the times he’d chance into whatever gig she was working while he was home on break. Every time, it would be exactly like this - effortless, as if being sort-of-friends was the easiest thing in the world. 

“Okay, so, Temari sent me a hell of a list and told me to ‘get whatever’. Like I was supposed to know what that meant. Hopefully it’s okay.” He gestures broadly to the coolers that his friends are toting down to the beach, which is nearly entirely ready at last. Ino leans over to peek in one, ponytail dangling over her shoulder. She glances up at Kankuro, smiling as his eyes instinctively follow her hair’s path. 

“This should be perfect. Thanks, Kankuro. We really owe you o-”

She’s cut off abruptly by a deafeningly demonic screech from the massive old school boombox set up on the sand - or maybe the speakers it’s attached to. Ino knows as little about technology as Tenten does, which is proven by the way the girl keeps wincing as she fiddles with wires, the noises never improving.

“Wow, okay.” Kankuro is cringing beside her, though he’s trying to pretend like he’s not. He can’t keep one of his eyes from twitching. “Do you guys, uh, need some help with that?”

“Ohmygodwouldyou?” It comes out in one huge grateful rush, and Ino’s grabbing his hand to pull him along the sand before he can possibly think to change his mind. Tenten sees her coming and promptly flees the scene of the crime, which leaves the speakers blessedly silent for a moment. Kankuro snorts as he stares down at the mess of wiring, leaning down to unplug several things. Ino watches him with mild interest, though she’s partially distracted; her gaze lingers in the parking lot, searching for a spike of dark hair, or a flash of orange. She knows Shikamaru and Choji will be early; they’ll want to make sure she’s not having a nuclear meltdown for one, and secondly, they don’t trust her with lighter fluid. Not seeing them, she turns back to watch Kankuro. 

He’s dressed simply in a black t-shirt and black shorts, his brown hair a little longer than she’s ever seen it before. He’s shaking his head and smiling as he straightens and presses a button on the boombox, and _finally_ the playlist that the girls spent forever burning onto a CD blares out. She and Kankuro stumble away from the noise, back towards the Jeep that his friends are now waiting in.

“Hey, thanks. Are you sure you guys don’t wanna stay and have a beer or something?” She offers as they stall next to the bumper. Kankuro smiles and shakes his head.

“Nah, I already had my bonfire night. You guys enjoy.” He shifts his weight, and Ino wonders what he’s gearing up to ask a moment before he does. “You thought any about where you’re going to college?”

“Ahh, Kankuro, not you, too,” Ino groans. He laughs as she half-collapses against the bumper beside him, frowning at him accusingly. “I swore I wouldn’t think about that tonight.”

“Okay, okay, sorry. I’m just saying, Belmont’s a good school _and_ Nashville is awesome.” Kankuro grins, reaching around to thump a bumper sticker on the rear of the Jeep promoting the very same college. “But you’re really giving me the evil eye now, so I’ll leave you to it. And Ino? Look into it.”

With a wave and an easy smile, Kankuro is vaulting back into the Jeep just as a pair of familiar voices drift closer behind Ino. The Jeep revs and eases out of its parking space just as her friends stop on either side of her, the respective scents of them washing over her. Choji, as per usual, smells like his shampoo and soap - clean linen, nothing else. Shikamaru, though...he smells earthy and piney, like maybe the barest hint of woodsy aftershave that she secretly loves. 

Smiling, she steps forward and whirls towards them, skirt fluttering around her thighs. She presses all thoughts of Belmont and Nashville and the idea of not looking into Shikamaru’s eyes every day like she is right now out of her mind, presses them down so deep that they shouldn’t bother her again tonight. True to form, Shikamaru must see something on her face; he reaches up to slip his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, his dark eyes suddenly peering at her from above the frames. Wordlessly, quickly, she shakes her head at him.

“Alright, let’s get a look at you two,” Ino trills, pulling herself together and propping her chin between her thumb and index finger as she studies the boys. Choji obliges and stands up straighter, while Shikamaru sighs and stretches his arms above his head. Her eyes snap to him first, taking in the forest green plaid unbuttoned at the throat and top to reveal the black undershirt beneath. His khaki’s are long and deep brown, the cuffs ending at a pair of dark sneakers. He’s nudged his sunglasses back up his nose despite the rapidly fading light, and though his look is clearly one of simplicity, she can’t deny that he looks...good. The green makes the browns of his eyes seem a little less dark and imposing - or so she noticed before he hid them away again.

“You gonna stare at Choji, too, or is something wrong with what I’m wearing?” Shikamaru asks, eyebrows shooting skywards. Ino sticks her tongue out at him in response, hoping he doesn’t notice the pink in her cheeks as she hurriedly switches her attention to Choji. He’s opted for a casual button-down shirt patterned with little cartoon dumplings and khaki shorts, and once Ino has given them both the mock-nod of approval, the three of them turn towards the others.

“Let’s get the bonfire going,” Ino suggests eagerly, unable to help her grin when Shikamaru pushes ahead of her to get to the pile of wood first.

“I’ll do it,” he mutters, forearms flexing as he leans down to tidy up the stacks of firewood beneath Ino’s appraising gaze. “You’ll just set yourself on fire if you try.”

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

Everything somehow turns out perfect, just like Shikamaru and Choji assured her it would.

There’s a briny breeze blowing off of the ocean that stops the heat from the fire and torches from being overwhelming, and the moon hangs high in the sky, half-concealed by lingering wisps of passing clouds. Bass from the music gets lost in the sand, but none of the group dancing around the speakers seem to mind. There’s loud chattering and laughter and spirited conversation, the kind they can’t fully allow when they’re throwing secret parties in suburban neighborhoods. But here, underneath the stars with the scent of the sea around them, everything is right.

Ino is three beers into one of the kegs, frowning at the taste but diligently swallowing from her red cup all the same. Later she’ll indulge herself with something fruity and mixed, but for now, she wants to start off slower. They’re only an hour into the bonfire, after all, and she doesn’t want to end up having to force Sakura to leave early. The Haruno residence is only a short walk from their chosen beach location, but Ino knows neither Sakura nor Shikamaru would ever let her make the walk alone.

So she sips her half-warm beer and she makes the rounds, blue eyes gleaming with pride as she watches everyone socialize. Later, the party will inevitably ramp up just enough to ensure headaches and fragmented memories the next day; for now, Ino lets herself bask in what she’s pulled off.

“You look like the cat that ate the canary,” Sai informs her as he siddles up beside her, making her jump. He smiles when she turns to look at him, one side of his face lit by the flickering flames as he drags his gaze along her. “Best looking cat I’ve ever seen.”

“I was just thinking about how happy I am,” Ino replies, fighting hard against the urge to roll her eyes. _Don’t be a jerk,_ she silently reminds herself. _You can at least have a little fun._ “You know, that everyone is enjoying themselves.”

“There’s beer and no dress code. What’s not to like?” Sai shifts his weight beside her, a move that brings his shoulder closer to hers as he leans in. “You really do look great tonight, Ino.”

“ _Too_ great not to be seen, wouldn’t you agree? We should make sure more people get a look at you.” Tenten’s voice is high and sweet as she suddenly muscles between them, accidentally elbowing Ino in the ribs.

“ _Oof_ \- “ She can scarcely gasp before she’s being pulled away, shrugging helplessly at Sai before he’s swallowed by the crowd. It’s such a whirlwind of a situation that Ino has spilled half her beer on her jacket sleeve, and she frowns as she digs her feet in the sand to halt Tenten’s advance. “Ten. Where are we going?”

“I don’t know, honestly. I was just getting you away from Sai,” Tenten admits, waggling a finger in Ino’s face that the blonde is incredibly tempted to snap at. “Sakura should be here any minute, she saw me running interference and I thought her eyes were going to pop right out of her little pink skull - there she is.”

“Oh no. I’m not dealing with the both of you right now. I’m going to put my jacket on my bike.” Ino gives a hard shake of her beer-covered sleeve for emphasis, ignoring Tenten’s sheepish grin as she hurries away before Sakura can part the crowd. She hurries across the sand, her bare heels kicking up granules with every step she takes. Despite the warmth in the air, the sand is cool as she paces deeper into the shadows that lurk outside of the bonfire’s reach. 

From her left, there’s movement; she flinches away from it with a yelp, huffing both in relief and anger when Shikamaru’s form materializes. He stares at her in amusement, and she’s tempted to tell him just how bad she wants to knock that smirk right off of his mouth. 

“Jesus christ, do I even have to get started on why that was a terrible thing to do to someone?” She asks, stalking past him. Still, her ire is less than half-hearted tonight and he must sense it. He seems easier than usual, loping calmly at her side with his hands shoved deep in his pockets and...and…

“Is that - are you - Shikamaru, are you smoking?” Ino’s a spluttering mess as she comes to a stop. She hadn’t even noticed the glowing red cherry at first, nor the thin tendril of smoke, but now it’s all she can see. He shrugs - he _shrugs!_ And Ino sees red.

“One,” she mutters, lifting a hand to the base of her skull, where her ponytail suddenly feels too tight. 

“It’s not that big of a deal, Ino,” Shikamaru says. Her temperature skyrockets.

“Two.” A breath in.

“Come on. Where were you going anyways, back to your bike? You can’t be stumbling around in the dark alone.”

 _Three._ Oh, she’s so mad she can’t speak. He’s making it worse.

“You didn’t even notice me walk right up to you.”

“Shikamaru, you are interfering with my counting and breathing, not that it’s helping - “

He’s walking backwards away from her, but not like he’s scared of her - like he’s trying to rush her along without making it obvious. And when Ino sucks in another breath and inhales in one last vain effort at control, he exhales a plume of tobacco smoke.

She loses her mind.

“Shikamaru Nara, of all the ridiculous, stupid things you’ve done in your life, smoking _definitely_ takes the cake. What the hell are you thinking?” Her voice has done that thing she hates where it gets all tight and shrill, and Shikamaru has finally stopped walking, wincing at her tone.

“I honestly can’t believe you,” she continues, the fury rolling through her in waves. She knows why this makes her angry - she knows exactly why, but she can’t properly think about it or articulate it, because if she does she’ll burst into tears, and if she bursts into tears, she’ll have to murder him. “I don’t even know what to say to you.”

“Then don’t say anything.” Suddenly Shikamaru takes one massive stride towards her more quickly than she ever would have expected. He looms over her as he reaches for her, one hand circling her wrist while the other touches beneath her chin, exerting a soft pressure. She tips her head back instinctually, her eyes widening in surprise as his fingers release her wrist to pluck the cigarette from his mouth. It falls out of sight and all she can see is his eyes, and -

Something slightly damp bumps against her lips and she reels away in alarm at the papery texture. Shikamaru is smirking so widely that it must hurt as he holds the cigarette out into the empty air where her lips had once been while Ino gawks at him in sheer unfathomable rage.

“You can’t just _force people to smoke cigarettes_ \- “

“You didn’t even inhale. I knew you wouldn’t. Hey, your sleeve is kinda wet,” he interrupts, and now Ino thinks that she’s well and truly going to have to strangle him in front of everyone at the bonfire. 

Later, after they’ve somehow made it to the bikes without any homicidal fits of rage, Shikamaru helps peel her out of her jacket, which she drapes over her handlebars alongside her dangling sandals. Then he dutifully escorts her back to the thick of the party, where they pick out an assortment of chips and food that they pile on paper plates and carry off to find Choji. Together the three of them settle into the sand on the outskirts of the makeshift ‘dance floor’, and Ino takes an immense amount of pleasure watching Sakura unable to turn down a dance with Rock Lee no matter how hard she tries. 

Another beer and half a bag of chips later, all thoughts of murder have fled her mind as Shikamaru returns to their cozy cuddle pile with a mixed drink for her. She takes it from him and places it in the circle she’s dug out of the sand beside her before pointedly aiming a pout in his direction. He sighs as he returns to his previous position in the sand - reclining on his palms, legs stretched out, Ino’s head resting on one of his thighs with her feet, in turn, on Choji’s lap. She’s sprawled out in the sand like she doesn’t have a care in the world, sundress hemline forming an uneven cityscape outline on her thighs. Choji is decidedly ignoring his temporary role as foot rest, crunching chips between his teeth as he discusses some new game with Temari and Neji, who have wandered over.

Occasionally Ino finds her gaze cutting towards Temari, who sometimes tosses a question in Shikamaru’s direction to rope him into the conversation. Shikamaru seems unfazed enough every time, but while he answers Temari’s questions, he doesn’t exactly volunteer his own information without being prompted. Ino isn’t entirely sure why she cares, and briefly pushes herself up onto her elbows to take a long gulp of her drink.

“It looked like you needed that.” Shikamaru glances down at her as she lays her head back on his lap, and for once, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to scold her for drinking too much or too fast. “You didn’t look like you were having fun.”

“Huh? Of course I’m having fun.” Ino briefly glances away from him as Sakura tumbles over, grinning and half-wet. She managed to dodge Lee by dashing away with Hinata, and the two had been busy in the ankle-deep surf, scooping up shells and laughing with whoever else decided to join in - Kiba and Naruto had for a while, until they’d started a sand fight. Once Sakura has gone off to grab another drink, though, Ino’s gaze returns to Shikamaru. 

“You were making sure everyone else was having fun. There’s a difference,” he argues, raising his voice just slightly to be heard over some half-crooning chorus that will inevitably dissolve into a heavy beat. “Don’t you want to be dancing or something?”

“Are you asking me, Shika?” Ino can’t help batting her eyelashes at him, and though she knows that he’ll say no, she still asks every time. 

“Nope.” Like always, he dismisses her immediately. “I’m sure Tenten would, though. That girl never seems to stop dancing once she gets started. It’s bizarre.”

“She just has a lot of energy. Like a puppy.” Ino rolls to take another drink from her cup, before thumping her head back and sighing. Her ponytail, while cute and practical, has been giving her a headache ever since Shikamaru had sent her blood pressure skyrocketing with his smoking - which she hasn't forgotten. She’s tempted to rip it out and shake her hair free, but she’s just as likely to get hot and frustrated with it later. 

Some time later, when she’s sitting up to finish off her drink, she catches sight of a trio clustered together near the water, whispering furtively amongst themselves. Narrowing her eyes, Ino tilts her head towards the group present - Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, Neji. “Hey. What are they up to?”

“It’s Naruto, Kiba, and Rock Lee. He probably got suckered in, but it can’t be good,” Choji points out. Still, no one moves to stop them, and before long something suddenly fizzles through the air. Up, up it rockets before suddenly exploding into a crackle of light and noise. Beneath the light, gasps of surprise turn to whoops and shouts of excitement. One after another, more fireworks bloom to life.

“Are those even legal?” Ino asks, and though she meant to get up and go dance, or mingle elsewhere, she finds herself slumping back against Shikamaru’s legs as she gazes up at the sky. 

“Those are, yes,” Shino answers, nearly drowned out by the fireworks. “They’re sorta small.”

Just then, there’s a massive boom, a riot of color, a shower of sparks. 

“Those,” Shikamaru says wryly into the brief silence. “Are not.”

Ino snorts out a laugh, rocking up onto her knees at last. “Ah, hell. There’s not anything I can do about it now, huh? I’m going to dance with the girls.”

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

By midnight, things are just beginning to show signs of finally winding down as several of the kids with early jobs the next day peel away to their bikes. Still, a decent gaggle of them remain, milling about and fitting in one last drink, one last dance.

Tenten has long ago exhausted herself, but Sakura and Ino are shimmying and laughing together, more than a few drinks loosening their limbs. Ino stops long enough to wrap Choji in a massive hug before he leaves, and then she’s back at it, flushed and tired and _happy_. Soon, the last CD will end and the beers will be gone, and no one else will be milling by the dwindling fire watching their remaining classmates dance together like they might not get the chance to again. 

But for now, Ino twirls away from Sakura, who gets swept up again by Lee - this time, Sakura doesn’t protest too soundly. Ino is grinning as she does some ridiculously dramatic dip move that ends up spinning her directly into the arms of Sai himself.

It figures, and Ino knows Sakura will tease her endlessly one she sees, but she doesn’t fight it. She shrugs and lets Sai’s hands make themselves at home on her hips while they circle around other dancing bodies together. Warm from the liquor, Ino brushes her ponytail off of her shoulders and tilts her head at Sai, who’s watching her with this expression like he’s parched. “That was a smooth interception there. Were you scared I’d say no if you asked me to dance?”

“Of course you wouldn’t say no,” Sai replies, the smell of beer lingering on his breath as he tugs her hips a little closer to his own. Ino falters, frowns, finds her footing and rhythm again. “I just thought it was more impressive this way. Was I right?”

And though his words are a little obnoxious and, okay, very cheesy - the smile he offers her is winning. He knows what he’s doing. 

Still, his smile doesn’t quite chase away the flicker of irritation that courses through her when he tugs her nearer again. Her butt is brushing his thighs, and she puts a little space between them on her next spin. “Well, enjoy it while it lasts. I’ve been dancing forever and I’m getting tired.” 

“Maybe I can walk you home after this?” Sai suggests, lifting a brow in silent invitation. Ino hopes the smile she gives passes as politely flirtatious even as she’s shaking her head.

“No, sorry. I’m going home with Sakura tonight. Her dad’s coming to get all the decorations and stuff.” 

“Shame.” Somehow, they’ve ended up close again, and her ass is practically being held prisoner by his crotch. His hands are still on her hips and he’s eyeing her lips considerately, and she knows she should be flattered or maybe excited, but she isn’t. Maybe Sakura and Tenten were right, as per usual.

Her bright gaze snaps up and seems to automatically find Shikamaru over Sai’s shoulder. He’s standing in the shadows nursing a drink beside Kiba, and the look on his face as they stare at each other makes her stomach do something funny.

Or maybe it’s the alcohol. She can’t tell before her view of him is obstructed by Naruto goofily dancing by.

“Maybe you could tell Sakura you’ll meet her at her place? Just so we can have a little more time to talk. I’ve been meaning to get you alone for a while so we can chat about a few things.”

 _Yeah, I’m sure._ Ino can’t help the derisive huff that leaves her; the only thing she wants to chat with him about is removing his hotdog from the vicinity of her buns, so to speak. But before she can open her mouth and really let the alcohol take over, a hand lands briefly on Sai’s shoulder and he turns.

Shikamaru is standing there amidst the dancing bodies, and though he speaks to Sai when he talks, his gaze is on Ino. “Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I hope you don’t mind me cutting in before Ino takes off.”

“Actually - “ Sai begins, but Shikamaru has distracted and agitated him, and Ino backs easily out of his hold. Shikamaru’s hand reaches out and she takes it as if in a daze, because - holy shit. This isn’t happening, is it? Shikamaru doesn’t dance.

He begins to lead her away, and she relaxes, because that’s more like it. He’ll just lead her away to the bikes and send her off safe and sound to Sakura’s house. But then he stops. And he turns towards her. And he hasn’t let go of her hand.

“Shikamaru?” Ino’s voice is a squeak that slips out of her lips, parted in awe as they are. 

“Hmm?” His other hand lifts, hesitates for a heartbeat - and then it’s on her waist. Even through the fabric of her dress, she can swear she can feel his warmth.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? Rescuing you.” And he begins to sway, back and forth, just so. The song playing is fast and upbeat and she’s sure they look really weird slow dancing as they are, but...but Shikamaru is _dancing_ with her. Shuffling, really, but she’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not with the way her heart is hammering. So she just smiles, leans forward so that her head is resting on his shoulder, and she silently thanks him.

They only stay like that for a moment before the song segues into another high-tempo tune, and Ino pulls away to glance up at Shikamaru. There’s a weird look on his face - unguarded, serene. “This is the last song. I better go find Sakura.”

And as she starts to peel away his hand flashes out, his fingers wrapping around her bicep. She thinks that her eyes must widen to a comical level as he pulls her back towards him, the smell of tobacco and whisky and something too sweet, probably pepsi or coke. Maybe it’s the shock of still seeing him standing there, knowing he danced with her, or maybe it’s the liquid courage. Either way, Ino gives Shikamaru a wide grin and begins to shimmy to the music, kicking up sand as she rolls her hips dangerously close to his - not as close as Sai had been, but enough for her skirt to brush his thighs. Her skin is glistening with sweat and her hair is damp and curling at the base of her skull, and though Shikamaru’s still really only shuffling a bit, he hasn’t stopped watching her since she started really dancing again.

Finally her courage leaves her, and breathing hard, she stops. “That enough for you now?” She asks sweetly, and quick as a whip, Shikamaru recovers.

“Is it enough for _you_? You’re always the one bugging me to dance.”

Still fighting her smile, Ino turns her back on him and starts to make her way - slightly unsteadily - towards a flash of pink hair near the bikes. Still, she can’t help one last snippet tossed over her shoulder. “Yeah. That was enough. Thanks, Shika.”

〆 〆 〆 〆 〆

She means to stay the entire time at Sakura’s, she really does, but she can’t stop thinking about the future, and about Shikamaru. It’s like his dancing for the sake of saving her from Sai has done something to her, and it’s like the alcohol in her belly has been all shaken up, and she just wants…

Ino hunts for her phone in the quilt Sakura gave her, squinting at the time. They’ve only been back at Sakura’s for an hour, but already everyone in the house aside from her is asleep. She’s been tossing and turning restlessly for so long that it makes it easy for her to fire off a text before she can second guess herself. To her immense surprise, he responds in less than five minutes.

Ten minutes later, she’s sitting up and pulling on her clothes and shoes as quietly as possible. She folds the blanket neatly, fires off a quick text to Sakura with an explanation - she’ll have hell to pay when Sakura wakes up - and then Ino’s slipping out of the front door, pausing long enough to lock it behind her with the spare key from beneath the flower pot.

Shikamaru is still in his pajamas when she pushes her bike to meet him just down the street, a pair of black basketball shorts and a fitted olive green shirt. He watches her as she walks up to him, his eyes finally lifting to meet hers. She feels bad when he speaks - she can hear a hint of sleep still in his tone. “You sober enough to ride?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“ _Yes._ ” At her insistence he nods, and together they make the short ride back to the Nara household. When they arrive and park their bikes, Ino stumbles a little getting off - Shikamaru shoots her a pointed glare and turns towards his front porch before stopping. 

“Shit.”

“What?” Ino asks, peaking around his frame.

“My mom’s still up. She was finishing up a movie when I left, I figured she’d be in bed by the time I got back…” He trails off, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his neck. It’s cute, she thinks, before she can shake herself. “Maybe I can sneak you around the back - hey. What are you doing?”

While he’s been thinking it over, Ino has inched towards the drain pipe and tree that conveniently butt up against Shikamaru’s second story bedroom. “I’ll climb up.”

“Ino, you’re drunk. You can’t climb up.”

“I always do.”

“Not when you’re - _ach_ , hey! You’re gonna break your damn neck!”

She’s already started scaling the branches as he scrambles to get inside and offer his mom an excuse. She knows its dumb, and if she dies by falling and breaking her neck, her father will laugh her silly - after throttling her - in the after life. The “I told you so”’s and jokes would be absolutely unbearable. But she makes it safely to the sturdy branch closest to his window, and soon enough he’s pulling it open, quietly but firmly tugging her inside. The glare he gives her is withering, but she ignores him to make a beeline for his dresser. The dress is cute, but she’s dying to get back into pajamas now that she changed out of the ones Sakura lent her and back into the tight ensemble. 

She steals a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from him, waiting until he’s checked to ensure his mother has finally gone to sleep before she tiptoes across the hall to his bathroom. She grabs her spare toothbrush from beneath the sink, splashes water on her face, tucks her jewelry into the sweatpants pockets. She’s done this routine a million times; it started back when her father had first been diagnosed with cancer. So many nights spent scaling that damn tree, knocking on Shikamaru’s window, tumbling into his bed just because being close to him was such a comfort. He never pressed her or questioned her; he was just...there.

His room is dark when she slips back into it, and she closes the door quietly. He’s already laying down again, back to her, but he reaches behind him to lift the duvet so that she can slide in. Immediately Ino relaxes; it’s like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders here in this safe haven, with Shikamaru’s scent all around her and him, breathing softly but steadily, beside her.

There’s only one last thing before she can truly drift off - her damn ponytail. She yanks the scrunchie from her hair with a savage delight, unable to stop a sigh of satisfaction from slipping through her lips. She massages at her aching head, pounding harder now thanks to the waning alcohol, as Shikamaru rolls over beside her.

Suddenly his fingers are replacing hers, running through her hair, scratching at her scalp. Her eyes roll back and stay closed, and she feels herself approaching the precipice of sleep more swiftly than she thought possible.

“There’s water next to the bed,” comes Shikamaru’s quiet voice, and she can’t even manage a response before she’s drifted off.


End file.
